R is for Red Light District - a podcast by Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey - A to Z of Sex

R is for Red Light District

Hi everyone! Welcome to the A to Z of Sex. I’m Dr Lori Beth and I am your host. We are working our way through the erotic alphabet one letter at a time. Just a reminder this podcast deals with adult content, so if you don’t have total privacy, you might want to put on your headphones. Today the letter is R and R is for Redlight District.

A red light district is part of (usually) an urban area where sex work is practiced. This includes strip clubs, sex shops, prostitutes/escorts and sex shows/theatres. The term comes from the red light that was usually used as a sign for a brothel. Some red light districts like in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and in Reeperbahn, Germany are areas where legal and regulated prostitution can take place. Many of these districts were originally formed in an effort to confine prostitution to one part of the city and to make sure that there was some regulation of the prostitutes.

In Japan, and Akasen is a red light district though it is not legal. The term literally means red line.

The Oxford dictionary has the term first appearing in print in 1894 in a newspaper from Sandusky, Ohio, USA. It appears the term became more widely spread when used in Dodge City, Kansas to refer to a district that contained a number of houses of prostitution including the Red Light House Saloon.

Some red light districts are monitored by the authorities though not legal and regulated. Usually authorities are monitoring for child trafficking. Others are regulated like the Reeperbahn in Hamburg. This is a mile long area and is world-famous. There are quite a few places in Thailand that are unofficial red light districts and are monitored.

In the 1950’s, the Soho area of London was a well known red light district. Working girls were everywhere in the area. The area has changed drastically though you still find sex shops, peep shows, and clubs in the area. The area is now known for it’s excellent restaurants, theatres and music venues.

The city of Leeds in the UK now has a red light district where prostitutes are legally allowed to ply their trade. This was created in the hopes that crime would decrease. There was a 12 month pilot that legalised prostitution in this ares which was made permanent following the murder of a 21 year old prostitute. Though crime has not disappeared in this area, sex workers are now reporting 60% more crimes to the police and prosecutions are following. The West Yorkshire police, the Leeds City Council and a variety of support agencies are all behind keeping this area in place and working to make sure that the (mostly) women who are working here are protected.

For Westerners, the most famous red light district is located in Amsterdam in a section called, Der Wallen. It is said that the district existed in 1200 when Amsterdam was more of a village than a city. The area is called Der Wallen by the Dutch because it was once completely enclosed in earthen walls. The area developed in part because of all the trade that was brought into the harbour. In 1758, Casanova visited the district and there were many tales of his exploits. In 1905, the prostitutes wore long dresses and sat in front of the houses waiting for customers. They were known then as Street Daisies.

It was in the 1930’s that the famous windows appeared. This took the place of standing in doorways trying to get customers to enter (which was not legal). They were allowed to sit in the window with the curtains opened only a little – teasing and exciting the curious to enter. In the 1960’s there were more houses of prostitution. In 2000, prostitution and brothels were made legal. But there was a point in the mid-2000’s that window prostitution (where the brothel was just one room) was made illegal to discourage trafficking.

In March 2007, there was an open day where for the first time male sex workers stood in the...

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